More than 100,000 students in Bangladesh joined hands on Monday to form human chains across the country to protest the recent terrorist attacks. The students from hundreds of colleges and universities in Dhaka and other cities took part in the protest as part of a campaign to create awareness against terrorism. This move stood as yet another testament that terrorists and extremists comprise only a minority and the overwhelming people of Bangladesh are peace loving.

The Happy Planet Index 2016 has ranked Bangladesh 8th among 140 nations, ahead of all the South Asian countries. Country’s wellbeing and life expectancy scores stay in a moderate level yet they are significantly higher than those of countries with similar levels of GDP per capita. In the issue of ecological footprint, the country has been put in the second spot in the world, given that remarkable achievements being achieved in keeping the environmental impact at a marginal level, stated the report, as released by the UK based New Economics Foundation (NEF).

HPM Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has proved it is more capable than others of facing terrorism and militancy by taking prompt actions. In reference to the recurrence of terror incidents in different parts of the world, she reaffirmed that her country has proved it's more capable of countering such social menaces than others by taking prompt actions. At her directives, security and surveillances have been beefed up while a mass awareness campaign against terrorism has been given a strong impetus.

History was set in motion this week when a team of female troopers joined their works at Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Lauded by a number of experts, this move has been deemed as a watershed moment in the empowerment of women inside the country, especially in the defence and security sectors. Having a female Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in charge, the country has seen a growing rise in the participation of women in almost every sectors stretching from education to armed forces over the space of last few years.

The Dutch ambassador to Bangladesh expressed satisfaction over the government's security measures in response to the recent militant attacks in Dhaka and Kishoreganj. Ambassador Leoni Cuelenaere expressed confidence that the government is making progress in securing the country, crediting the present government for raising awareness among the public. Moreover, global buyers of RMG have also echoed the same view on the recent security measures and announced to continue with the partnership with the government.

The country's commercial banks will disburse US$ 2.2 billion in the rural areas this fiscal year under an agricultural and rural credit policy and programme announced this week. As per the new policy, unveiled by the central bank, all local private commercial banks (PCBs) will have to disburse minimum 30% of their total targeted farm loans direct through their own networks to 119 different agro and rural sectors from the current fiscal year. Upon successful completion, this move will add fresh impetus in the ago-production and business.

With the goal to make Dhaka city free of water- logging, plans have been laid out to develop a good sewerage system so that lives of the city dwellers should not be affected. The issues of recovering city's canals and water-bodies that were occupied illegally, dredging the rivers surrounding Dhaka and building a planned drainage system for the city will also be incorporated in the master-plan. Such a step comes at a time when a plethora of new civic services have been introduced to improve the condition of the city.

The government has taken all out measures to evacuate people affected by floods along with relief operations in massive scale in the flood hit 59 sub-districts of 16 districts. The government, meanwhile, released Taka 5.50 crore and 13,000 tonnes of rice for the flood affected districts. Under the relief operation, the government has released 13,000 packets of dry food out of total allocation of 18,000 packets along with cash and food grains for the flood affected people.

The total electricity generation capacity of Bangladesh will be nearly 15,000 megawatt (MW) by the middle of September with the addition of 218 MW to the national grid from next month. Construction of the Siddhirganj 335 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant by the time will take the country another step forward towards realizing the dream that electricity is ensured for all by 2021. Since assuming power, the Awami League led government has been successful in bringing in 76% of the entire population under electricity coverage.

The government has approved proposals to build three new power plants with an aim to change the course of national progress, as envisaged by the HPM Sheikh Hasina. Of the three, one will be built in Khulna under a joint venture undertaken by two Chinese companies while works for the other, to be built in Sylhet, are underway owing to a multifarious cooperation between companies from Bangladesh and Japan. The third one- a 200 MW solar plant- will be constructed in Gaibandha.

Local industrial giant Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited (BPL) has started exporting medicines to the United States as part of its initiative to focus its presence in many emerging and developing markets in the world. The company is one of the largest exporters of pharmaceuticals in the country and its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities are certified by global regulatory bodies of Australia, European Union, Gulf nations, Brazil, and others.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has unveiled a roadmap to attain $50 billion export earnings by 2021 from the apparel sector. The roadmap will concentrate on the priority and required activities that should be done to achieve the goal. The roadmap titled "Bangladesh RMG Roadmap: Targeting US$ 50 Billion Export by 2021" has been jointly prepared by RMIT University of Australia and BGMEA and was unveiled in Melbourne this week.

Bangladesh Border Guard personnel will now be able to use Indian roads along the India-Bangladesh border areas for patrolling the remote areas where Bangladesh has no road links. According to the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, if any BGB man meets an accident during patrol on Indian land, he would get treatment at an Indian hospital. During a meeting with his Indian counterpart, India assured him of help to fight militancy by sharing information and experience and providing more training to law enforcers.

Bangladesh and Cambodia are willing to explore the bright prospects for tourism between the two countries as officials from the two countries stressed the need for cooperation in the sector. The issue came up for discussion when Ambassador of Cambodia (resident in New Delhi) to Bangladesh Pichkhun Panha met Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the residence of the Foreign Minister on Wednesday. They discussed the ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two friendly countries. Cambodian Buddhist tourists can visit many historic Buddhist heritage cites in Bangladesh.

The BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector in Bangladesh has set a target of creating 200,000 jobs each year within 2021, says Prime Minister's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy. He expects export earnings from the ICT sector to exceed $1 billion within the term of the present government ending in 2018. The projection was made at the inauguration of BPO Summit 2016 held at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

Government has eyed to open internet-based shops (e-shops) at district level to expand e-commerce service across the country. To this goal, works for implementation of a 12-month project named e-shop has already been put in place since October last year. A marked progress is achieved in developing e-commerce sites while establishment of a strong connectivity among sub domains across 64 districts will give taste of internet-based business among the mass for the first time in the country.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) inaugurated a Digital DNCC App - Nogor, for ensuring quality service and enhancing security of its dwellers within a short time. Through the app anyone can place complaints directly to the DNCC authorities by taking photographs of the roads, lampposts, garbage, illegal occupations, or corruption, which will be automatically sent to them and will be displayed on a digital board at the offices of DNCC.